Scope or PC?
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 9/1/2004 2:00:00 AM
In 1997, Agilent Technologies introduced the Infiniium, the first Windows-based oscilloscope line. At that time, Windows-based scopes didn't let you install your own programs. In 2000, Tektronix opened
Windows in its TDS7000 series. Two years later, Agilent opened the Infiniium's Windows and LeCroy introduced the open Windows-based Wavemaster.
With Windows open, some engineers looked to use their scopes for data analysis. Others wrote applications to internally control the scope, while still others wanted to control external instruments. Engineers who have used their scopes to replace a PC for some applications have found varying degrees of success.
A test engineer at Intel (who asked not to be identified) wanted to replace bench PCs with Windows-based scopes. To start, he wanted to control an internal PCI analog-output card and an external power supply with a scope, but his scope's form factor prevented him from installing the card. He installed the card in a LeCroy Wavepro 7300. He could control the card with LabView, but he had difficulty using LabView to control the power supply through the scope's internal IEEE 488 interface card. He also had difficulty getting LabView to control the scope. With help from LeCroy, he controlled the scope from LabView through TCP/IP calls.
To use the scope's internal IEEE 488 controller to control the power supply, he had to make calls to the card's driver rather than going through the VISA driver layer. LeCroy's VISA let him use the scope as a remote instrument but not as a system controller (he didn't try NI-VISA). According to LeCroy, the Wavemaster and Wavepro scopes will now function as system controllers.
Although he succeeded in using the scope to control instruments, the Intel engineer ultimately returned to using a separate PC because he preferred the PC's larger screens. He also realized that "When you send your scope for calibration, you lose your PC, too," and he decided that losing access to the information he stored in a scope outweighed the advantages of using the scope to control instruments.
"PC-based scopes are a blessing and a curse," says Kevin Parmenter, director of field applications engineering at ON Semiconductor. "I'd never seen a scope with a blue screen or with a virus before I used a Windows-based scope. Our IT department might start treating test equipment as part of their domain if it can spread viruses." After scopes from two manufacturers crashed, Parmenter returned to a Tektronix TDS3054, which doesn't run Windows.
Some engineers were successful. Tony Chaiyasena, technical contributor at Sound Technology, uses his LeCroy Wavepro 7000 to control two IEEE 488 instruments over a local network though an IEEE 488/Ethernet converter. He also connects the scope to the company LAN through a USB/LAN converter. His Agilent Vee application runs inside the scope.
Ray Ridley, president of Ridley Engineering, uses Windows-based scopes instead of PCs. He teaches a power electronics course and notes, "We use a Tektronix scope to run design software and operate an external frequency-response analyzer. Being able to see all the functions on one screen is a powerful design aid."
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